Friendship With All
The story
This verse is said during pratikramana, the rite of looking back over one's faults and turning away from them. It is said above all on Samvatsari, the last day of Paryushan, when Jains ask pardon of everyone they may have hurt in the year and say "Micchami dukkadam". In the lay confession it asks pardon of every being harmed, knowingly or not, across all one's lives.
खामेमि सव्वजीवे, सव्वे जीवा खमंतु मे। मित्ती मे सव्वभूएसु, वेरं मज्झ न केणइ॥
khāmemi savva-jīve, savve jīvā khamantu me | mittī me savva-bhūesu, veraṃ majjha na keṇaï
Vandittu Sūtra (Śrāvaka-pratikramaṇa Sūtra), gāthā 49, the Śvetāmbara reading; the Digambara Mūlācāra, gāthā 43, has the same verse in its own wording; our translation
The same moment, today
Two neighbors stop speaking over where a fence got put up twenty years ago. The original dispute was about three inches of dirt, but nobody mentions the fence anymore. They don't wave, they don't look at each other's driveways, and they plan their morning walks so their paths don't cross. Both of them have forgotten why they're angry, but neither one wants to be the first to drop it. Holding a grudge takes daily work, and after a while it just feels like routine.
This verse asks you to wipe out every grudge at once, without waiting for the other person to go first. You aren't settling a private score or deciding who was right. Jains say this line during pratikramana, which is a regular practice of looking back at your missteps and pulling back from them. When you recite it, you ask pardon from every creature you might have hurt, and you release any bitterness you're holding against anyone else. It's an act of clearing your own mind so old anger doesn't stick to you.
The lesson
Call someone you've been avoiding and clear the air without making excuses. It doesn't matter who started the fight if you choose to end it today.
Where this comes from
A verse shared across two traditions
Both main Jain traditions recite this verse, though each preserves it in its own scriptures. For Svetambara Jains, it's verse 49 of the Vandittu Sutra, which laypeople recite during seasonal confessions. For Digambara Jains, the same verse appears in the Mulacara, an ancient manual where a monk recites it while preparing for death. The English here is a plain rendering of the original Prakrit. Jains live this verse at the end of their yearly fasts: Svetambaras on Samvatsari after Paryushan, and Digambaras on Kshamavani after Das Lakshan. On those days, people greet friends and strangers with the phrase Micchami dukkadam, which means may any harm I caused come to nothing.
A small reminder, on the fridge or the desk, that carrying an old grievance only weighs down the person holding it.
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